A Quick Guide to Intel's Chips, From Arrandale to Yorkfield

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A Quick Guide to Intel's Chips, From Arrandale to Yorkfield

Intel's processor for desktops and laptops can be a jumble of codenames – Lynnfield, Nehalem or Clarkdale anyone? Add to that a rebranding initiative, unveiled three months ago, that split the same codenames across different chip families, and it can get downright confusing.

With Intel's developer conference, aka IDF, set to kick off Tuesday, we have created a guide to understanding Intel's different consumer processors.

Intel currently has three main chip families: Core i7, Core i5 and Core 2. All are based on the 45nm technology that Intel started moving to in late 2007 and are available to consumers now. Eventually the company hopes to phase out the Core 2 line of products and introduce a new entry-level processor, Core i3.

Read on for a more detailed explanation of each family.

Core i7: Codenamed Bloomfield and Lynnfield, Core i7 includes the latest desktop processors from Intel. The CPUs are billed as Intel's fastest and most advanced processors.

The 45-nanometer processors are based on Intel's Nehalem micro-architecture. They include features such as hyperthreading technology that gives the chips the ability to execute eight threads simultaneously on four processing cores, better power management and an integrated memory controller. (Read more about Nehalem and its key features.)

The Core i7 desktop family comes in two broad flavors: regular and extreme. Once carrying the Lynnfield moniker, Core i7's regular edition processors have clock speeds from 2.66 GHz up to 3.06 GHz.

The extreme edition, formerly codenamed Bloomfield, offers two processors with clock speeds of 3.20 GHz and 3.33 GHz. These are CPUs billed for hardened Call of Duty and *Crysis *gamers and graphics creators. The chips help deliver more realistic game environments for players and are popular among graphics and multimedia creators, says Intel.

Intel also has a Core i7 CPU for laptops in the works, with the codename Clarksfield. The company is expected to announce specification and details of availability for these processors "very soon."

Core i5: The Core i5 family comprises mid-range processors that have four cores and are available with clock speeds from 2.66 GHz to 3.20 GHz. They were also formerly bunched under the Lynnfield codename. The chips are based on the 45nm lithography process but lack the advanced features of the Core i7 chips, such as hyperthreading. These CPUs are targeted at mainstream PCs that do a bit of gaming and multimedia but not enough to require the blow-out-the-sockets kind of horsepower that comes from the Core i7 chips.

Intel plans to release 32nm versions of the Core i5 chips, codenamed Clarkdale, early next year.

Core i3: There's not much known about the Core i3 family beyond that it is expected to be Intel's entry-level processor. The company's newest chips are always introduced for high-end PCs and then trickle down to more basic computers.

Intel has said that Core i3 chips could be out in early 2010, although the company now promises to have it ready for release at the end of the year. Speculation about Core i3 has so far been focused on the Arrandale and Clarkdale chips. Arrandale is expected to be a 32nm CPU for laptops, while Clarkdale will be the version for desktops.

These chips won't have some of the advanced features, such as Turbo Boost, but they are expected to offer a step forward from the earlier generation of processors in terms of speed.

The Core 2 Duo, formerly called Penryn, has two processing cores and is available in clock speeds ranging from 2.13 GHz to 3.16 GHz. It is mostly also based on the 45nm process technology, though Intel does still offer a Core 2 Duo chip based on the 65nm process.

Intel offers a version of the Core 2 processors called Core 2 Extreme for laptops. The 45nm Core 2 Extreme processor comes in two-core and quad-core versions with clock speeds ranging from 2.53 GHz to 3.06 GHz.